Odd Lots

What Bitcoin Has To Do With The Dream Of Cryonics

Jul 8, 2019

Finn Brunton, an NYU professor and author of "Digital Cash," dives into the intriguing history of cryptocurrency and its unexpected links to cryonics. He discusses how early digital currency creators shared a vision of anonymity and futurism, similar to cryonics enthusiasts. The conversation highlights challenges of valuing currency and preserving wealth over time, along with ethical debates about the focus on immortality amid global issues. Brunton also touches on the paradoxes within these movements and the role of technologists in shaping the future.

37:12

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Episode guests

Finn Brunton

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Episode notes

Intro

3min

The Journey of Cryptocurrencies: History and Future Visions

20min

Preserving Value Across Time: Finance and Cryonics

4min

Cryonics and Currency: A Future Vision

10min

The Ethical Dilemma of Cryonics in a Challenged World

2min

Exploring Contradictions in Futurism and Technology

2min

Bitcoin has been around for roughly a decade now, but people have been working on the dream of an anonymous, digital currency for a lot longer than that. On this week's Odd Lots, we speak with NYU professor Finn Brunton, who is the author of the new book "Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency." Brunton talked to us Bitcoin's pre-history, and about how and why there was a major crossover between digital currency believers and people who want to freeze their bodies in order to live forever.

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